Material handling generally, and in laboratories specifically, can benefit from greater uniformity, consistency, reliability, reproducibility, quality, and integrity. Laboratory protocols or laboratory notebooks may improve some of these issues, but reference a protocol manual or lab notebook for an experimental protocol or procedure can be time consuming and tedious. In addition, some protocols and procedures may require measurement value and results to be reported after each measurement or at intervals that may overlap with the preparation of a subsequent step of the action set.
Identification and material mixing is a common part of everyday life, and even more so in the life of a scientist. Determining the outcomes of various interactions of known and unknown substances is a challenging problem to overcome. Further, the physical properties calculated by current physics engines are generally restricted to physics, and fail to take into account the effect of additional science fields on materials. Controlling computer interfaces and peripheral machines based on these interactions creates another level of complexity.
The following references provide background on the material disclosed herein: Eppela, S. and Kachman, T. (2014) Computer vision-based recognition of liquid surfaces and phase boundaries in transparent vessels, with emphasis on chemistry applications. arXiv preprint arXiv:1404.7174
Fraczek J, Zlobecki, A., and Zemanek, J. (2007) Assessment of angle of repose of granular plant material using computer image analysis. Journal of Food Engineering 83, 17-22
OpenSim. (2016) Referencing OpenSim Arm26 model and OpenSim itself http://simtkconfluence.stanford.edu:8080/display/OpenSim/About+OpenSim, and http://simtk-confluence.stanford.edu:8080/display/OpenSim/Induced+Acceleration+Analysis, download 18 Nov. 2016.
RecFusion (2016). Software by imFusion GmbH, Munich, ImFusion GmbH, Agnes-Pockels-Bogen 1 80992 Munchen, Germany. Downloaded 18 Nov. 2016 from www.recfusion.net.
Vassiliou, E., Giunto, G. F., Schaefer, W. R., Kahn, B. R. (1994). Slag viscosity detection through image analysis of dripping slag within rotary incineration kilns. U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,621.